According to a post over in our forums, if you purchase an accessory map (rather than update) from Garmin, those maps don’t include Junction View or Lane Assist.

“Please note, these full-version maps DO NOT contain premium content such as Lane Assist and Junction View. These features only are available on the preloaded maps within your device or through a specific update for the mapping region of your device.”

Garmin recently announced a new line of handheld GPS devices, the Montana series. These models feature a four inch screen, slightly bigger than the older three inch models on devices like the Oregon. But what has us pondering more is the hints at other new products Garmin dropped on their site. I’ll take the bait and speculate on what might be coming. Continue–> Garmin Outdoor Product Hints

A couple of years ago in my post ‘Painting the Traffic Picture‘, I argued that for many hard-core commuters, they care not about what the traffic speed is, but how it differs from “normal”. They know what normal traffic conditions are, they know which roads will likely be slow, so it is more useful for them to know what might be different from typical.

Today, INRIX updated their Traffic app to version 3.0 and added a feature that does just that…. “Comparative Traffic – see what’s abnormal”. Glad to see that they too thought this would be a valuable change. Also added are the ability to submit a report if you find traffic conditions different than represented and a way to see traffic in areas not near your current location.

Back in January the FCC granted a conditional waiver to LightSquared, allowing them to “expansion of terrestrial use of the satellite spectrum immediately neighboring that of GPS” according to the new coalition. LightSquared is building up to 40,000 ground stations which will transmit broadband signals up to one billion times more powerful than the GPS satellites as measured from earth and could produce dead spots for GPS receivers surrounding those ground stations. Continue–> Coalition to Save GPS Created

The nuLink 1695 is Garmin’s latest entry into the SIM-connected pnd market. While it has it’s roots firmly planted in the nuvi 1xxx line, it grabs some of the latest features from Garmin’s flagship 37xx series.

Combining a 5″ widescreen, live Navteq traffic, Bluetooth, an expanded package of nuLink services and the latest nuRoute features, it’s a good upgrade from Garmin’s only other connected model, the 1690. But how does it match up with Tomtom’s Live models? That’s the same market Garmin is going after with the 1695. After a couple weeks with it (and a side-trip to the Jersey Shore with another moderator, Boyd), here’s what I’ve found so far. Continue–> Garmin NuLink 1695

It is pretty simple. Garmin tried to sell a smartphone based on a single application. People instead purchase smartphones based on the entire ecosystem of apps available for each platform. While you can add other apps to the Nuvifone just like any other smartphone, you can more easily add a good navigation app to any other smartphone on the market. People did, and will continue to do so. Doesn’t matter how good the Nuvifone was or how good the navigation was.

We’ve been hearing for nearly a year now that Garmin has had an iPhone app in active development, but was holding off releasing it until their mobile handset (Nuvifone) project had clear results. Now that the results are a bit more clear and Garmin seems to be ditching their phone efforts, a Garmin iPhone app (and Garmin Android App too) seem much more likely. That was nearly confirmed today with this quite from Garmin and Asus announcing their break-up. Continue–> Garmin iPhone App?

Over the years I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with geocaching. Lately I’ve been drifting more towards the hate side, although I’m still an active participant. My biggest issue is that people don’t seem to think about where the place caches. The impact I see caused by the location of certain caches is turning me away from wanting to be an active participant. Continue–> My Love Hate Relationship with Geocaching

A question that comes up again and again in our GPS Discussion Forums is Why can’t you reverse a route? A similar question with virtually the same answer is Why does my GPS pick a different route when going back to the original starting point? People often notice that a GPS might pick a different route from point B to point A than it does from A to B. Why is this? There are a few reasons. Continue–> Why You Can’t Reverse a Route